Sophos Vs. Avast: Which One is Better?

Over the past year, the world has gotten more comfortable with maintaining a steady online presence. From attending countless Zoom meetings to watching friends getting married on Youtube, we’ve all become best friends with our electronic devices. 

In 2021, the average person spends almost three hours a day on social media, not including time spent working at a PC. Over 7.9 billion data records were exposed between January and September 2019, increasing by 33% from 2018. Last year, malicious outsiders caused 52% of all data breaches, and human error caused 23%. 

Protecting your data and device security has never been more critical. It is crucial to invest in antivirus software that protects your devices from malware attacks and harmful viruses. 

In this article, we’ll be pitting Sophos vs. Avast to help you make a decision about which software works best for your security needs. 

We will be evaluating the following factors:

• Malware protection
• User-friendliness
• System performance
• Pricing 
• Features 

If you don’t have time to read everything, here’s a quick summary of the results. 

1. Malware Protection
   Winner: Avast. When comparing the two, we found that Avast held up much better than Sophos when blocking harmful threats.
   
2. User-Friendliness
   Winner: It’s a tie! The user interface for both options is easy to navigate. Test results for false reporting were almost perfect.
   
3. System Performance
   Winner: Sophos. In general, Sophos performs well without taking too much of a toll on your laptop. Avast can sometimes have problems with launching websites.
   
4. Pricing
   Winner: Sophos. While Avast has more features and offers more packages, Sophos covers more devices at a lower cost.
   
5. Features
   Winner: Avast. Simply put, Avast has a longer and more detailed list of features than Sophos. 

The Verdict

Avast is a clear winner. While each software has its pros and cons, Avast offers more utilities and more security-enhancing features. 

Let’s go into more detail. 

1. Malware Protection 

An antivirus software’s most important job is protecting your device, data, and information from malware or digital threats without any false alarms. If your software fails in these areas, it isn’t worth your money. 

When we compared Sophos vs. Avast, we considered unbiased evaluations conducted by the AV-Test Institute and AV-Comparatives, two independent testing organizations. The AV-Test Institute evaluates antivirus products based on different metrics, such as usability, performance, and protection. Ratings are provided on a scale of 1 to 6, with six being the highest. 

Avast and Sophos tested against 304 samples of 0-day malware and 20236 malware samples for four weeks. Sophos got a perfect 100% score in detecting malware but had issues protecting threats. Its final success rate was only 94.6%. 

On the other hand, Avast protected the system against 99% of threats. It had an industry average result, ad its detection score was 100%, just like Sophos. 

Winner: Avast. 

2. User Friendliness 

We took a few crucial factors into account. The interface and how easy it is to use 

First, let’s look at the interface. 

Avast’s dark and modern theme is designed for all kinds of computer users. A list of self-explanatory options on the left side shows you the Status, Protection, Privacy, and Performance of the software. You can access the settings from the side panel. 

When you open Avast, the Status window will greet you. Here, you can see the PC’s status protection, and you can run a “smart scan” if you feel the need to do so. If your computer is protected, a big tick inside a circle indicates that. 

On the other hand, the Sophos home screen shows the critical information first. If everything is alright with your computer, there is a big green circle indicating that. It will turn red if there are problems. 

At the bottom of the screen, the status of malware protection, web protection, ransomware protection, privacy protection, and malicious traffic protection is shown.

The bottom left corner of the window has the essential button: the scan button. 

As you can see, when looking at Sophos vs. Avast, each software has a simple interface that is easy to use. 

Winner: Both. 

3. System Performance

Good antivirus software won’t slow your computer down in its efforts to keep your data and system safe. 

Sophos showed great results because it stayed close to the industry average. 

On the other hand, Avast had a few problems when launching websites. However, when it came to installing applications, Avast was quicker than Sophos. 

In this category, Sophos performed well all around, while Avast faced a few issues. Surfing the internet is a regular activity for most of us, and waiting for a page to load is very frustrating. 

Winner: Sophos. 

4. Pricing 

When deciding which software to invest in, you want to make sure that your digital life is in good hands. 

Sophos Home Premium has a 30-day money-back guarantee. It is the only product that Sophos offers for home users. 

In our opinion, Avast is the better choice. It has two bundles, Avast Premium Security and Avast Ultimate. 

5. Features

First, let’s take a look at what Sophos has to offer. 

For the home user, Sophos has one product called Sophos Home Premium. 

It includes the following features: 

• Protection for up to 10 devices (Mac, Windows, Android, iOs)
• Ransomware security blocking ransomware attacks. This security prevents your data (photos, emails, messages, videos) from being locked and held for a ransom. 
• Privacy protection that will warn you when a third party is attempting to access your webcam or microphone.
• Parental controls allow you to control the web content your children can access while on a device. All you need to do is select filtering categories for their safe online engagement with websites and social media. 
• The real-time antivirus utilizes the Sophos Lab databases to constantly protect your computer from viruses, Trojans, worms, bots, and potentially unwanted apps or PUAs. 
• Premium support is also available 24/7.

Now, let’s have a look at what Avast has to offer. 

First, Avast Free Security is the most basic security bundle that the company has. 

It offers: 

• Anti-Malware security that blocks viruses, Trojans, and spyware. It also scans your computer for hidden threats. 
•  Email and web shields alert you about unsafe websites, stop dangerous email attachments and prevent intrusive web tracking. 
• Wi-Fi Security Scan checks your entire network and all connected devices for vulnerabilities. This scan stops hackers from stealing your data. 

Next, Avast Premium Security provides ongoing protection. Here is what it offers: 

• A real-time Wi-Fi security alert is added so that you are instantly alerted when there is a network weakness or intruder. 
• A Ransomware shield that protects your files and other data. 
• A Ransomware detector that keeps all of your data safe. 

Finally, Avast Ultimate. This is an all-in-one bundle that provides all-around protection. It also provides you with the ability to protect up to ten devices. It comes with additional features. They are: 

• Avast Premium Security.
  This includes all of the features mentioned above. You will also be able to bank and shop online safely. 
• Avast SecureLine VPN
  This feature ensures that everything you do online is kept entirely private. Avast VPN’s bank-grade encryption keeps your data secure, allowing you to bank, shop, and message online without worrying about your data getting stolen. 
• Avast Cleanup Premium
  You can get rid of junk files and other spam. This feature allows your laptop or computer to run faster without trash files slowing it down. 
• Avast Anti-Track
  You can now disguise your online identity with the click of a button and stop nosy people from hacking your data. 

Final Thoughts: 

As you can see, while Sophos has several features that will protect your data and keep your system safe, Avast has a long list of features that will only benefit you in the long run. 

Winner: Avast. 

When looking at Sophos vs. Avast, we made sure to consider as many features and categories as possible. While it does seem as though we have a tie when adding up the wins in each category, we’ve chosen to go with Avast because high security and protection are our priority. 

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